Customer Reviews

Webster's New World Italian Dictionary: Italian/English, English/Italian

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I'm new to Italian. I'm studying the language in college. So I was looking for a good dictionary and this is a good one. It has quite a few idiomatic expressions in it as well as the standard definitions of words. My professor has had a few minor disagreements with the dictionary in regard to a couple of definitions. For example, her word for graceful is different than the one provided. But she didn't say the word the dictionary gave was wrong, just not as commonly used.

My one caveat is that this is actually a British-Italian dictionary; after all, it's printed in England. As an American, for the most part, that doesn't matter much. When you look up the Italian word, colore, you'll find the British spelling, colour. That's very minor. However, it does make a bit more different in the examples provided. Sometimes, when words are used in a sentence in this dictionary, the example is specific to England. For example, they'll use Pound Sterling in a sentence about money instead of dollars and Euros. Still not a big deal, but something you might want to be aware of. That may explain some of the differences my Italian professor had with the definitions of certain words.

But overall, a good basic Italian-English (with a British slant) dictionary.

Webster's New World Italian Dictionary (Concise Ed. = ISBN 0139536396) was THE outstanding portable for many years, and though it has not been updated since 1985 (1992 date listed on amazon is the reprint date), I believe it is only surpassed in the abridged/concise/portable category by the Concise Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary, a heavier, larger hardcover. I used the Webster's through my entire undergraduate program and was frequently asked to look up definitions that students with inferior portables could not find (I found nearly every word I searched). Though the Webster's lacks many neologisms of the past 20 years, the cultural notes, the keyword guides, the "Italian in Action" grammar guide, and the two-color format of the Collins Italian Concise Dictionary, 4e (HarperCollins Concise Dictionaries), I still recommend it over the Collins. Though the number of entries for both concise dictionaries is advertised as roughly the same, and both feature excellent usage examples in phrases, the Webster's appears to remain the overall champ for detailed entries. Catherine E. Love is editor on both dictionaries (with others). I believe newbie Italian students may be tempted to buy the up-to-date Collins Italian Concise Dictionary over the 23-yr. old Webster's, but I recommend the Webster's over Collins Concise and the Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (NOT truly a "pocket" or mini-dictionary), which also has added features (you can read similar notes I've posted at the Pocket Oxford link above).

A note on pronunciation guidelines in Webster's and Collins:
The Webster's lists the syllabic stress within an IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) form of the entry word in brackets, after the initial headword. Because Italian pronunciation is generally straightforward, this means that the word in brackets often matches the exact spelling of the headword, though with the stress notation added. The Collins Concise avoids what some may consider redundancy by noting IPA translation only for those Italian words it considers more difficult to pronounce -- i.e., those which require the use of IPA symbols that don't correspond to the standard roman alphabet.

P.S. Only those students who are just trying to get through their language requirement will be interested in lower-priced (retail approx. $4.95 to 9.95 or so), bilingual (newsprint -- uffa!) dictionaries. Oxford, Collins/HarperCollins, and others publish these inferior, if lower-priced dictionaries, in addition to the excellent concise dictionaries in the approx. $12-16 price range, of which the Webster's featured here is the old favorite. I suspect that the newsprint cheapos are manufactured primarily to provide a lower-priced dictionary to bundle with school textbooks. Note that newsprint often triggers allergies (migraines, etc.) and is quick to deteriorate. If you feel that you are a somewhat disinterested student, keep in mind that you just may fall in love with the language you're studying and wish you had invested in the mid-level, excellent concise dictionary from the start, instead of throwing away $10 on a stinky newsprint job with brief entries.

If you're a lukewarm student and feel you just do not want to put out more than $10, or must have something lighter in your backpack, then go for the Oxford Italian Mini Dictionary or the Collins Gem Italian, 6th Edition. Both of these minis have durable flexi-covers, blue headwords, and: ***phrasebooks for travelers!*** The cover of the Oxford Mini states "100,000 entries and translations." The Collins Gem appears to have approx. as many entries as the Oxford Mini. Either one of these is an excellent choice for travelers as vocabulary is almost always a concern, and standard phrasebooks have much more limited dictionaries within. Both minis appear to have as many entries as the higher-priced "newsprints," are certainly more durable, portable (smaller, if chubby), and are printed on better paper!

P.P.S. For those American students who think they SHOULD be studying Spanish ("instead"), keep in mind that INTERNAL motivation is one of the best predictors for success in any field or area of study. If you want to study Italian (or an obscure, "dying" language/dialect, for that matter), then go for Italian and don't look back. The discipline gained from mastering Italian is an award in itself, and mastery of this beautiful language will greatly aide you with Spanish and other romance languages -- and indeed any future language study.

In the three years that I have been studying and speaking Italian, this is the single best dictionary that I have come across. I have several others (Oxford, Langenscheidt's, etc.) which are all fine, but don't come close to the Websters. The Websters includes practical examples, idioms, verb conjugation and several other useful tools that really make it top notch.

I spent the better part of a year at a language school in Italy, and the Websters was invaluable. When I was preparing to return to the U.S., my instructors asked if I would leave them my copy!

I will concede that the Websters is too big for carrying on your travels, but if you are studying or corresponding with Italians, you simply cannot find a better dictionary.

I chose this Italian-English/English-Italian dictionary over the others I was able to examine in a bricks-and-mortar store because (1) the print was crisp, clear, and larger than that of the mass-market size paperback dictionaries, (2) the paper is a higher-quality free sheet that won't yellow with age (dictionaries are the kinds of books you tend to hold on to for many years), (3) at 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches it is portable and fits nicely in my backpack, (4) the book lies open nicely and is not pinched in the gutter, (5) it covers a very generous 100K+ words and phrases, and (6) it was the only dictionary in its price category that had an easy-to-decipher pronunciation guide for the Italian terms. As someone who is trying to teach himself Italian, the latter point is very important to me. Io molto contento!

I was surprised to see that this dictionary shared many of the definitions with the Harper Collins Italian College Dictionary. Then I noticed that Catherine E. Love was involved in the editing of both. It appears that the Harper Collins book is an expanded version of the Webster's New World Italian Dictionary.

What do I love about this book? (1)It's size is perfect for carrying from room to room. The larger dictionaries are too heavy and large. (2)The print, while not as large as the College format, is large enough to read comfortably. (3)the definitions are robust enough for most of my needs.

For the price, it's a "no brainer" to buy. If you have the money, I'd also get the Harper Collins College version, if only for those instances where it has a definition that's lacking in the Webster's "concise" version. It happens rarely, but it does happen.

The Webster Italian Dictionary has carried me through my Italian studies from day one all the way through advanced courses in literature. For the price and the relatively size, this is the most practical reference for a student. Most importantly, aside from basic, literal translations, it provides context and a wealth of examples.

Dozens of colloquial English and Italian expressions are listed, and the entire dictionary itself contains over 100,000 translations. The format is clean, entirely black and white, with no distinction between the Italian and English section (a minus).

Its greatest disadvantage is its system for describing pronunciations. I am using a French-Italian Larousse dictionary for study of the former, and it uses simple dots under the Italian words to denote where the stress lies. The text at hand, instead, uses the more traditional style of using linguistic jargon and apostrophes.

For example, this is the listing for "equilibrio" (balance):
[ekwi'librjo]

Once you learn the constant sounds of the Italian alphabet, this is both unnecessary and confusing, particularly when other characters that are not part of the Roman alphabet are used to describe sounds, like the pronunciation of the Italian "gia."

That aside, the contextual information, phrases, examples, and backpack-portable size make this a winner for students in from beginner to advanced. Of course, archaic medieval litterature will often require something heftier, in which case one can look towards Garzanti's lineup.

I have several Italian-English dictionaries. This one is excellent. It goes one step beyond the others: it gives the syllabification and phonetic transcription of the Italian words (the others give it only for the English words - something a native speaker of English does not need). If you are working on your own and must confirm pronunciation this is an excellent choice.

This is a great dictionary and is easy to use!!! While its bulky for carrying around, it helps you figure out those really tough words and has everything in it you need!!! Great for the student or traveller!!!

The dictionary is easy to use and very helpful with phrases, etc. However, I was trying to use it in my Advanced Italian class and my professor constantly asked me what were these words I was getting from the dictionary. The context is not really provided for some words so they can be misleading. I suggest wordreference.com instead. it's been really helpful for my class and it's free!

I bought this dictionary during my first year of Italian as an undergrad. Now, 3 1/2 years later, I still use it frequently. It frequently cites expressions and words that are unusual or not widely known, words that cannot be found even in the many extensive online dictionaries.(Although these can be quite good, especially since they are always being updated and contain more current words and phrases, and the Webster hasn't been updated since the 1980's.)

It is also a little heavy-- if you want a "pocket" dictionary, this isn't for you, as it weighs about 3lbs! In spite of its weight, I did tote it back and forth to Italy several times, knowing it would be a helpful resource if I didn't have immediate internet access. By far, the best thing about this dictionary is the amount of usages it gives for each entry -- the word "give" or "dare", for example, includes almost every phrase usage you could possibly imagine in both languages (and there are a lot!). They almost always use the terms in a sentence, which is helpful, and also provide accurate pronunciation, which is also helpful especially for beginners, as some words can actually be quite deceptive.

As a previous reviewer said, the Webster is a British publication and therefore has quite a few "Britishisms", but nothing that would pose a translation problem -- if anything, you'll learn some new expressions from our Anglophonic friends "across the pond" that you hadn't heard before! I actually lost this dictionary recently and went right back to amazon to purchase another- it's that good! A great learning tool for Italian speakers of any level; shell out the extra $10 and purchase a lasting addition to your collection.